LICENSING.BIZ PEOPLE AWARDS 2016: Licensee Team of the Year

Ahead of the much anticipated Licensing.biz Peope Awards 2016, we have launched a week of round ups, taking a closer look at the big names running for a People Award on Friday, March 11th.

Today, we profile all the finalists running for a Licensee Team of the Year award.

Hasbro

Always enthusiastic and keen, with a delightful approach, recent successes for Hasbro's includes a smash hit toy line based on last year's Marvel blockbuster Age of Ultron.

Full-year 2015 boys category revenues for Hasbro increased 20 per cent to $1.78 billion and this was driven by increased Nerf revenues along with strong showings for its licensed toy lines based on Star Wars, Jurassic World and Marvel properties.

HTI

HTI is the UK’s largest independently owned toy company, with over 60 years’ experience in the toy industry and an international customer base selling to over 80 countries worldwide. The company’s portfolio of brands and toy categories continues to grow as HTI partners with some of the world’s best known toy license brands such as Peppa Pig, Disney, Teletubbies, Thomas, My Little Pony, JCB, Paw Patrol, Star Wars, Blaze, Silver Cross, Mamas & Papas and many more.

HTI specialises and is a leading manufacturer in the key categories of roleplay toys, dolls prams & pushchairs, vehicles & track sets, wheeled toys and everyday novelty toys. All HTI products are designed to give children across the world the opportunity to have fun and grow through creative and imaginative play.

Cooneen

Cooneen is known for its in-house design expertise and offers various licensed essentials in the UK.

Specialising in nightwear, Cooneen works with a number of global licensors including Disney, Warner Bros, BBC, Hasbro and EI Entertainment, and currently has a portfolio of over 60 licensees. These include the likes of Barbie, Charlie & Lola, Fireman Sam, Green Lantern, Moshi Monsters, Peppa Pig and Scooby-Doo to name a few.

Misirli

Having been established for over 50 years, Misirli licenses a number of brands across various categories including nightwear, underwear, hosiery and socks. Most recently the company has signed new licenses with DHX Brands for the new Teletubbies children’s series, and will develop a line of socks for the show.

Plus, in 2015 Misirli also partnered with FremantleMedia for its new Danger Mouse series, which will see the company develop a line of underwear and swimwear.

LEGO

The number one toy company in the world has tapped into various licensing categories over the past year, with Star Wars proving to be a success for the company.

Various play-sets have hit retail, which are based on the existing franchise and the new The Force Awakens, (including Toy of the Year winner LEGO Millennium Falcon), while a new LEGO Star Wars animated series, The Freemaker Adventures, is also hitting screens later this year.

In addition, the last 12 months have seen LEGO team up with Warner Bros to enter the toys-to-life space with the brand-spanning LEGO Dimensions. Elsewhere, other major licences to get the LEGO treatment in the last 12 months include Scooby Doo, Ghostbusters, Classic Batman, WALL-E and Doctor Who.

Centum Books

Centum Books is setting the cat amongst the pigeons within the publishing world.

Whether it's launching innovative publishing formats to the market place, executing retail with full marketing commitment, and even organising screenings for one of the biggest movies in 2015, putting retail and the licensing industry at the heart of what they do.

As one voter stated: 'To have become such a significant player in licensed publishing, in the five short years since the company was founded, is a spectacular achievement.'

Blues Clothing

Blues Clothings’s friendly yet highly professional approach to relationships and business makes the company one of the best licensees in the industry, as well as one of the most well respected.

One judge stated: 'They are a pleasure to deal with on all levels from their creative flair and innovative ranges to their business acumen and solid retail relationships.'

Spin Master

Spin Master has achieved significant growth over the past two decades, transforming itself from a small, single product toy company into a leading global, diversified, multi platform and highly innovative entertainment company.

Over the past two years, Spin Master was worked alongside Nickelodeon as creators of the incredibly successful hit series PAW Patrol. Their range of engaging and innovative PAW Patrol consumer products has helped to propel the brand forward resulting in it finishing 2015 as the number one new toy property within the UK market.

This year's People Awards is taking place at South Kensington's Millennium Gloucester hotel on Friday, March 11th.